« November / December 2007 » |
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IntroductionChristmas has flown by and the new year is now here - "Happy New Year!" - We would like to wish all our supporters a very happy new year and hope that it is a prosperous one for all. I must start by giving my apologies - The newsletter has been getting later and later throughout 2007 but I hope that I can get back on schedule this year and bring you regular updates on our work and the children's progress.
The charity has transferred it's office to a new UK addres (See below), the best way to get in touch is still via the website/email as the volunteer UK staff have limited time.
Children Walking Tall
5 Lyncombe Court
Ordsall
Retford
Notts
DN22 7FY
I hope you enjoy reading this month's newsletter. If you have any queries or comments, then please contact us via the website http://www.childrenwalkingtall.com/Contact-Us.htm. To provide extra safety to the children we have changed or removed their names in this and all future newsletters.
| Introduction | |
| What's Been Happening | |
| Website | |
| Fundraising | |
| Future Plans | |
| What Can You Do? | |
| And Finally | |
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What's Been Happening
Christmas For the past 12 months we have been collecting and saving all the toys that are given to Children Walking Tall over the year. Our aim is always to accumulate enough toys so that we can give as many children as possible a smile at Christmas. Last year we were able to hand out around 1500 wrapped Christmas presents to children across Goa and in Mumbai. This year there has been a significant drop in the number of tourists which has had a knock on effect to the number of presents received, but our aim was the same - make as many children smile as possible!
Christmas was fast approaching and the toys were moved to Roberts apartment, temporarily, renamed the ‘elf’s workshop’!, ready to be sorted and wrapped. Trying to wrap 1000+ presents is not an easy task and even harder when you want each present to give the same happiness rating (width of smile). It's never nice when you have a row of children and one or two get small presents and their neighbours receive bigger better presents. Making sure each present has the right mix of toys and organisation is the key.
The first job was to count and separate out all the different types of toys - balls, dolls, cars, hair bobbles, bags, colouring books, cuddly toys. Once we knew how many items we had there was a better idea of what we could join up to make the presents equal. We always receive a large number of cuddly toys so as a general rule every present had a cuddly toy, but the cuddly toys themselves were separated into four different sizes (small, medium, large and extra Large). A typical wrapped present included a cuddly toy, a few balloons, a doll or plastic toy, bobbles, hair clips and nail varnish for the girls. For the boys, similar with small toy cars, sun glasses or action men.
Many readers are thinking - are you mad!? - The answer, yes probably, but it does help! Thankfully we had a good team of volunteers and visitors that helped with the wrapping. The first presents wrapped were for the children we work with every day. The ones who come to The Mango house and those in the two local slums, we do try not to show any favouritism but we did have to give ‘our’ children a little extra in the presents…. A special gift to all the girls was a hand made Chudidar outfit made by Savita our accountant cum dress maker and for the boys a new pair of shoes each.
Every morning a grid of 30 to 50 presents were laid on the floor ready to be wrapped. The volunteers would then wrap and make similar presents for hours on end, we were also lucky enough to have a few visitors who gave a helping hand. - THANKYOU!
By Christmas we had wrapped 1,000 presents, and even managed to have a day or twos rest before the present giving started...
Lucy with just some of the wrapped presents...
This year was the first year we had a Christmas Tree, the tree was donated by 'Ron' a friend of Shermina's, the staff and volunteers spent one evening decorating the tree and house. The final touches to the tree were given by the children who made a star each to put on the tree.
Presents were given out in slums all over Goa over the four days before Christmas and although exhausting it is always a great atmosphere and to see the smiles on the faces make it all worth while. The best way to describe this is to see the pictures - Pictures from Christmas.
Christmas at The Mango HouseThe Mango House was open on Christmas Day for the children. A day of fun and games were planned by the volunteers. The children arrived around 9:30 and came in to the reception room to see all the presents under the Christmas tree, each present having a name on it... All the children were very curious... we had register and then Big Fat Santa arrived, Ali, our house parent dressed up and went a little overboard on the padding! :o) He sat at the front and called each child up to receive their presents. The next hour was full of noise as the children opened, played with and compared presents.
 Santa Giving Out Presents
To settle them down a little and give them an idea of what was to come in the afternoon we put on the film 'Cinderella'. After lunch the children were then treated to some of the worst acting ever as the volunteers and staff put on the play 'Cinderella', Ali was Prince Charming and volunteer Kate, was Cinderella. The volunteers and children enjoyed it tremendously and there were lots of laughs to see the male volunteers and Rob dressed up as the Ugly Sisters. We would like to thank all the volunteers for their time, effort and imagination in bringing a classic story to the Mango House.
The children spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and dancing, it was a great day and none of this would have been possible without all the help we get from Supporters, Volunteers and Staff - Thank you all. For more photos please see the Christmas Day Pictures on our website.
 Bombay (Mumbai)
A trip to Bombay was organised to coincide with the departure of one of the Trustees (Pat) who was flying from Bombay. There were still around 50 presents that had not been given out over Christmas so these were packed into 2 large bags and collected along with a large bag of toothpaste and brushes to give out to the children on the streets of Bombay. We had an evening in Bombay before Pat flew home, so we hailed a Rickshaw and asked the driver to take us to a local beach area where there were likely to be lots of children begging and selling their wares (balloons, henna stamps etc).The beach was filled with people from all walks of life and among them were the children trying to make a living by selling their goods. We walked down the beach giving to the children as we went. The children were very happy with their gifts and some said thank you to us in English. This is unusual for as most of the children we work with don’t speak English but in Bombay English is widely spoken. The next day we handed out the last few presents and gave out toothbrushes and toothpaste to lots of children on the streets who were living at the side of the busy roads and in one of the main train stations in Bombay. We were lucky to have an easy time giving out the items which isn’t always the case in Bombay where the need is so great.
Palm Tree Christmas PartyWe would like to thank Liz and everyone from the Palm Tree in Calangute for their generosity this Christmas. They invited fifteen children to participate in their Christmas party. A party meal, drinks, balloons, music, a magic show and dancing was included in the evening. Just before leaving each child was given a fantastic Christmas gift to take with them. We would like to thank everyone involved for their kindness. The day finished with staff and volunteers taking a walk down to the beach for a few games.
A Fantastic Recovery We are delighted to say that the girl who was severely burnt in August has now made a full recovery. For several months we were worried about how the burns would constrict her movement and mobility but now since receiving regular exercise and good food her health has blossomed. Over the last few months she has been attending The Mango House for treatment and rehabilitation.
Our main concern was to keep her wounds clean and allow them to heal fully. When she left hospital she still had several open wounds. These were thoroughly cleaned and medicated each day. One of our volunteers took over from Robert to assure her full recovery. Eva who has nursing skills was more than happy to help out and worked very hard to keep Rukmani on the mend. By the end of December all of her open wounds had covered over and healed.
With help from Steve Nelhams we were able to purchase two burn suits for her. The burn suit is a thick, tight lycra suit that is specifically made for the patient. We were shown in the hospital how to put the suit on but the first few times it took around 30 minutes to put the two pieces on. After a while though we got the hang of it and managed to do it in five to ten minutes... The suits have to be worn every day and when one is being worn the other is washed and dried.
In December there was another worry when we noticed that her hair was falling out, thankfully the doctor assured us that it was a result of her original burns and the shock to her system. Medicine was given to promote growth and we are happy to say that new growth has started and she is looking much better. But that was not quite the end of her the saga as she caught Chicken Pox after Christmas, this although not that serious made wearing her burns suit very uncomfortable.
Steve Nelhams was one of the main supporters who helped with providing the funding for her treatment and he was lucky enough to see her during his visit to The Mango House. Thank you Steve and everyone who helped with her recovery.
LeprosyWe are happy to say that the child that was diagnosed with Leprosy has completed his year long course of medication. He has been cleared by the specialist and I am sure is happy to be finally off the medicine that was given to eliminate the condition. We will obviously keep an eye on him and also the other family who has been diagnosed with the disease, but hope this is the last we see of this debilitating condition.
Chicken PoxThere are several diseases that most of the children seem to get, the latest is Chicken Pox which has hit at least half of the children from the slum. The first case was diagnosed 4 weeks ago and there has been a new case nearly every day. On Doctors advice the infected children have not attended The Mango House, although I don’t think this reduces the chance of the other children getting it as when the children are home they never stay inside, but play with any children not in school. Thankfully for children it is not too much of a worry and although the spots can be uncomfortable most of the children have now recovered. Hopefully we are now at the end of the outbreak and all the children can return to The Mango House.
SherminaAs many of you may already be aware Shermina Left the Charity just before Christmas and Denise,both a trustee and her mother is also due to leave. We will try to bring you an update on the effects of these departures in our next newsletter but for now would like to thank them for all their positive contributions.
Suprise InspectionsSince the last newsletter we have had two inspections, consisting of the Child Rights Goa, Health inspectors, Women and Child, Police and the Collector of Mapusa. Both occasions the team were shown around the house and they asked the staff and children questions to verify the good work that was being done. One point raised in the latest inspection which although not a requirement was requested was about keeping a better track of the visitors. Due to this we will ask all visitors to sign the visitors book on arrival. After the first visit we received a glowing report and hope this latest report will be equally as good.
Children’s BankThe Charity has started a new initiative called “The Mango House Bank”; it’s a simple bank system for the children who attend The Mango Mouse whereby they can save the money they receive from their parents or from working in their spare time as rag pickers, cleaners or coolies.It started when one of the older girls requested that we look after some of her money and on that first day we had just one bank member depositing her daily wage and then a few days later another 7 children opened their own bank accounts.Hopefully this will give the children greater responsibility for their own money and show them what a difference saving a few ‘pennies’ (rupees) can do!We have been doing a similar idea with stars for quite a while …The children receive stars for good behaviour, trying that little bit harder and helping volunteers.These are then saved and can be spent on pens, pencils, books, clothes and toys.The children have been collecting and using their stars so the same idea is easily transferred to saving money. To make it worth while for the children we are also giving them interest. We hope we can give a higher rate of interest by visitors dropping off their spare coins when they visit 'The Mango House'. The children line up every day when they bring their few rupees. Savita fills out their 'pass books' and the children and a staff member signs for every transaction. Just recently one of the boys wanted to withdraw money to help the family. He wanted to loan his savings to his family as they needed some medicine. Perhaps some of the children will become acocuntants and bankers in a few years...
 Marriage At The Mango House
There have been three weddings since the last newsletter, the most recent one has seen the house owner (Sybil) return to Goa to celebrate her daughters wedding.Ernest, Sybil’s husband should have accompanied her on this happy occasion but he was, tragically, taken just one month ago by a heart attack. He never saw how we had turned his family home into a warm children’s home. Robert and everyone at Children Walking Tall would like to share their condolences with Sybil and her family.
Lizette and Clint were married on the 26th of January 2008. Their day started by returning to ‘The Mango House’ where the bride and family prepared for this special day.The children and staff had the day off and the house was left for the family and friends of the wedding party.The children were invited in the afternoon to wave off the bride and to wish her well.The children dressed in their best clothes, most of the girls wore the dresses that were made for them at Christmas and the boys wore their smartest clothes.The bride looked stunning in her traditional white gown.The children were then treated to chocolate and fruit from the wedding party.The photo shows the bride, her family and the children just before the church wedding.We would like to thank the Sybil and her whole family for allowing us to convert ‘ The Mango House’ into a beautiful home for the children and we wish Lizette and Clint all the best for their future together.
The Young Brides The parents of one of the older girls thought it was time that she settle down and get married.For most of us this was a huge shock as she is only 14 or 15 years old.The family took her back to the village for the marriage and she seemed happy to be getting married but we all feel that she should have had a little longer to be a child before having the rest of her life set out for her.She has married someone of a similar age so they will be able to learn about life together.Unfortunately many families still try and marry off their children early on, perhaps it’s to share costs, responsibilities or work load.We are unlikely to see her again as she has returned to her village. Another young couple, perhaps one or two years older also tied the knot. They had spent time rag picking together and fell in love.This came as a surprise to many, but love is funny like that.Although we can not show that we support such young marriages we do wish them all their best in the future.
Giving out clothesWe are always so lucky with the generosity of our supporters and this enables us to help a wider range of children.We often go out into the slums to distribute, clothes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and fruit.Recently as well as giving presents out at Christmas we have been giving out clothes.
Going to the slums and giving out clothes is a great way of finding other children that are in desperate need of help many of which we would otherwise not find or know about.We want to help where ever possible but this is restricted by our time, money and ability. Recently two children who live close to each other have come to our notice, one has TB which was being left untreated.The second case is more severe and is a boy who had water on his spine when he was young.This was 6 or 7 years ago and ever since he has been disabled with one side becoming deformed and he is also terribly thin. Children Walking Tall has donated a pushchair which was given us last year, and this has given him greater mobility and he can now explore the neighbood. We will continue to look into his situation and hope that there is more that we can do to help him in the future to make his and his mothers life easier.
We have also visited the local government hospital with baby clothes for the expectant and recently delivered mothers.
VolunteersFor the last six months the Volunteers Form has been de-activated as all the volunteer places for 8 months ahead were booked solid. Even with the form de-activated many potential volunteers emailed. In January the online form was re-activated to allow new applicants to apply. The form has changed slightly and if anyone is interested in volunteering then please go to the website and read the volunteer section before sending in the form. We have already had 23 people requesting places in the last month and will try to get back to everyone ASAP.
January saw several volunteers leave the house and continue with their travels around India. Theresa, Eva & Jeroen, Matt and Lucy all left within a coupld of weeks of each other. But before they left they all took part in giving presents out, the 'Cinderrella' play and of course Christmas at the Mango House, we hope they will remember their last couple of weeks. Some have already made plans for their return and we look forward to seeing them in the future
There have also been several new volunteers join us. Jenny, Nadja, Louise and Richard have all arrived to see what Children Walking Tall is all about, they have also been joined by Paride a volunteer who has been out several times in the past.
We have also seen several of our Ex volunteers show up as they come to Goa on holiday. It was great to say hello to Gee, Frida, Sujarta, Massimo, Azadeh, Lynn, Harriet and John, Three more are also coming to volunteer with us in the next few months. We would like to thank all the volunteers, past and present for all their efforts in making Children Walking Tall a success. Thanks!
The Lonely PlanetWe recently found out that 'Children Walking Tall' has been mentioned in the latest Lonely Planet Book (India). The Lonely Planet is one of the main resources for travellers worldwide and we are one of two organizations mentioned for volunteering in Goa. |
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WebsiteLots of Christmas pictures, Volunteer write-ups and much more....
 Charity Fundraising Events
Raj comes from London and has volunteered for us twice over the last couple of years and if that was not enough he then goes back to London and promotes Children Walking Tall. The latest event is a Stand Up Comedy Event in Brentford and more information can be found on the events page here. Raj was the lucky man who met up with Shilpa Shetty at last years Zee carnival. He is also having a stall at this years event so lets see who he gets to talk to this year... |
 Volunteer Experiences
We have had three write ups since our last newsletter. These have been from Harriet (who also visited us this week), Stuart and Oli 'The Doctors' and Kate who will be returning to volunteer again in the next month. We want to provide as much insight as possible to what to expect and rely on previous volunteers to give an account in their own words. Click here for Volunteer Experiences |
 Pictures
It's taken longer than usual but the Chrtistmas pictures are up on the website. In the last month there have been five sets of photos added It's Christmas!!! -All the five sets of photos are all about giving... They cover an awful lot of wrapping paper, 100's of meters of cellotape, lots of preparation and then finally lots of fun giving 1000 presents to slum children in Goa and Mumbai. The last set shows a few familiar faces as these include photos of Children from 'The Mango House'. |
 Needslist
The Needs List has changed. Donations have been received to cover some of the items on the list. It is the day to day running costs of The Mango House that have to be sustained. For instance items like food, medical supplies and of course rent. Whenever the need occurs for a large or special item then that will be added to the list. |
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Fundraising and Donations
Drop off pointsIf you're coming to Goa and have brought items for the charity there are a few drop off points where bags may be left and are for the benefit for people unable to visit The Mango House. There is one main one in the North and one in the SouthNorth GoaKarma Shooters (Goa's Original SHOTS Bar), Barry and Bev have kindly offered to keep donations which will collected from them each week (if required).
South GoaPalm Grove Residency (Hotel & Restaurant) - Palm Grove is based on the outskirts of Cavelossim and is an ideal drop of point for anyone staying south of the Airport.
Please note that Ma Thai is no longer a drop off point. Please let us know by email or phone when you leave anything so that donations may be collected at the earliest convenient time
EBay For Charity We have registered with MissionFish to allow us to receive donations from eBay sales. You can now sell an item on eBay and donate from 10% to 100% of the final sale price to support our work with street children in India. All you have to do is set up an account; find all those items that are tucked away under your bed and sell them on ebay.
Visit Ebay for charity (Children Walking Tall) for more information
If you have something to sell, and want to support Children Walking Tall at the same time, then please add us to receive a portion of the selling price.
 South Gloucestershire Council
One of our long term supporters, Melonie has worked hard to organise a cakesale held at the South Gloucestershire Council.There was also a ‘name the bunny competition’. The money raised has been ear marked to go towards the emergency medical fund which allows us to help children in severe distress and also to give the children a treat involving sand, water and sunshine, a beach trip.
Special School in Walsall, West MidlandsPatty and Peter visited ‘The Mango House’ last year and liked what they saw and have continued to raise funds for us this year by a raffling off a Christmas cake. We appreciate all the help we get and hope that everyone sees the work we do via the photos on the website or see it in person while they are in India.
Cool UkCaroline from Cool UK came out and visited last year and spent the afternoon at the Slum School and now has shared her experience with the students from Cool UK She works with young people aged 13-17 who haveadditional needs and who have often been unable to access education due to exclusion or disaffection. Caroline says ‘We offer practical and academic learning skills and progress is positive. The students have decided to adopt 'Children Walking Tall' as their charity. The young people, despite being small in number are working to raise money for Children Walking Tall and this is significant in itself.' We would like to thank Cool UK for their support and for adding our link to their website and ‘Spreading the word’.
Visitors A huge thank you to Kristy and Sara from the Exquisite beauty salon who came to visit us this week, they had done lots of fundraising in the UK and had also brough a bag of goodies and did a small workshop for the children. The spent monday afternoon with 38 children making photo frames. Thanks to Kristy and Sara and everyone from Exquisite for their continued support. Also Azadeh came bearing gifts for the chidlren and put on a T-Shirt painting workshop for the children. A specal thank you goes out to her friends and family and of course Jonathan for supplying the T-Shirts. Thank yu to everyone else who has been, helped and given items in 2007.
Thank You to Everybody We would like to thank everybody who has helped to raise funds and awareness over the last two months. It is becoming increasingly difficult to write details about all the donations we receive due to the amount of work involved. If you are kind enough to arrange an event for Children Walking Tall and would like your event to be included in the newsletter, then please write a small paragraph about how the event went and who was involved. The newsletters are very time consuming to put together so this would be a great help to us and allow more time to be spent helping the children. |
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Future Plans
SchoolThis month has seen six new children being accepted to 'The Mango House', The Mango House is just part of what we do to help local children. One of our main projects is to bring education to a wider audience and allow more children to attend school. This year we hope to continue supporting all the children from last year (about 79 were admitted) and although some have dropped out, we also hope to give help to even more children this year by providing school uniforms, bags, books, equipment and all their school needs. Hopefully over the next few months all the equipment will be organised so the children will be ready for the new academic year that starts in June. |
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What Can You Do?
Monthly SponsorshipThe charity has grown so much since it started, making it more important than ever to keep a solid base to work from. With this in mind, we are looking for people to give monthly donations so that a core fund can be relied on each month. Currently, people are donating from £2 to £30 per month. The money would help towards feeding the children each day by providing a morning snack, a main meal for lunch, and a second snack in the afternoon. It would also help provide vitamins, health care and allow money to be set aside to pay rent, electricity and the water bills every month.
For more Information : http://www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com/Donations.htm
Wisdom TrustWould you like to raise money for Children Walking Tall for FREE, just by voting for us on 'The Wisdom Trust?' If you would then Click here, or find out more in the details below....
Spread The WordAn easy way to help Children Walking Tall is to spread the word - just let more people know about what we do! If you've received this newsletter by email, then simply forward it to your friends; otherwise send a link to our website, as this and our older newsletters are always available on our website www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com
UK Fundraising TeamBecome a member of our UK fundraising team by distributing leaflets, raising money or organising events. A good way to help is by finding something that you enjoy doing and getting people to give you money for doing it! For example, you could organise a night out, an Indian evening or just have a party. There are lots more ideas in our Online Fundraising Pack |
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And Finally...
Newsletter By EmailIf you would like to receive these monthly newsletters by email please Contact Us. Please put the subject “Join Newsletter” so that we can add your address to the mailing list. Send us the email address you wish the newsletter to go to. If you have received this email by mistake, or wish to cancel your monthly newsletter then please let us know by Email with the subject “Cancel Newsletter” Many Thanks from everyone at Children Walking Tall.
Contact Us Children Walking Tall,
'The Mango House',
H.No 148/3,
Near Vrundavan Hospital,
Karaswada, Mapusa
,Bardez, Goa
Web : www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com
Tel : (0091) 9822 124 802 |
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